Tax rebate checks and reduced rates to prevent further recession, how do you, as an individual, prepare for an economic recession? Here’s some advice on preparing yourself and your family for economic recession, even if it is a minor recession.

Most importantly, come up with a budget and stick to it. By doing this, you can find places to cut discretionary spending. When you get your tax rebate check, use it to pay down credit card debt or store it away and start saving young.

Past studies of stimulus packages have been shown to boost the economy within two weeks as 80% of the stimulus money re-enters the economy. So don’t fret on the current recession, just remember in order for the market to gain, it has to take a setback and watch this video for more tips.

For more on this read:

How you can prepare for a recession
Preparing for economic fire and ice
How to Prepare for an Economic Recession

According to BBC News, tent cities are popping up in the US as the economy gets worse and more are displaced by the mortgage crisis.

For more on this:
Tent cities popping up all over America
America’s new subprime shanty-towns
Housing crisis at historic level

The significant thing in mortgages this week wasn’t what had changed, but what had stayed the same. 30-year mortgage rates posted their fourth consecutive weekly reading within a range of only 0.03%. 

This stability was not because of a lack in economic news. Among the prominent developments:

• High-ranking government officials, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, continue to issue increasingly more somber pronouncements about the economy
• After a brief respite, oil and gas prices once again surged to new highs
• Meanwhile Congress and the White House continued to debate over how far mortgage relief measures should go

Indeed, considering the amount of economic news, the fact that mortgage rates remained unchanged was not because there were no new developments, but more because conflicting developments essentially fought to a standstill.

For mortgage shoppers, this meant good news — additional time to think and act while mortgage rates are still at uncommonly low levels. 

Read the rest of this entry »

According to a poll by Gallup News, 76% of the Americans asked stated that they believe the United States is, in fact, in a recession. A similar poll was taken in October of 2007 where only 36% replied that they felt America was experiencing a recession. This is a striking rise in this opinion and numbers like this haven’t been seen since 1992.

But how many Americans reported they felt the United States is headed for a depression?

To learn more about this, read:
Recession bound
The Housing Recession
A dangerous divergence
When Recession Fears Abound, it May be Best time to Start a New Business